As seven alien races struggle to co-exist in an uneasy alliance, the Inter-Stellar Union sends Union Guard agents on missions to preserve the crucial balance. These specialized operatives must do what regional security cannot, dealing with smugglers, pirates, terrorists, and even greater challenges in order to bring stability to a universe that needs it desperately. Without the Union Guard, the races will not be prepared to face a looming alien threat they can only hope to defeat together.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Robot Violates Asimov's First Law (part 2/5)

Robots have injured humans before,
including underreported mistakes and deaths caused by surgical
robots, a man crushed to death by a robot at Volkswagen, and the
first robot-caused deaths of Robert Williams and Kenji Urada. The
robot that injured the young 16-month boy was a security model being
tested at shopping malls. The Knightscope K5 is a five-foot,
300-pound security robot that begin trials at the mall a year ago. It
relies on a variety of sensors and cameras to monitor its
environment, and it can be directed around by human security guards.
The robot is programmed to report any unusual activity to a central
guard station. Consider that using the K5 robot costs only $6.25 an
hour, which is lower than minimum wage. With recent government
mandates to increase the minimum wage, what will businesses do to
adjust to the new demands? Some will simply cut their workforce down
and try to survive with fewer employees, others might skirt the law
and pay illegal immigrants lower wages, and still others may look to
robots to fill the roll. It certainly makes sense—robots can do
some of the same jobs humans can with much less operating cost. But
what will the cost be to us? Fewer jobs, for certain, but the public
might suffer as well, if little Harwin is to serve as a warning. It's
certainly clear that more needs to be done before filling our
shopping malls with potentially dangerous robots!